UM’s Miller School of Medicine
at FAU’s Regional Campus Students Begin Clinical
Rotations

BOCA RATON, FL (October 15, 2009) - Thirty-one
students set to be the first to complete all four years of medical
school at the University of Miami’s Miller School of Medicine
at Florida Atlantic University’s Medical Regional Campus in
Boca Raton have begun clinical rotations at local
hospitals.

The
rotations at several Palm Beach County hospitals make up the
majority of the newly developed third year curriculum that is part
of the University of Miami and FAU’s unique private-public
partnership for medical education.

“This is an exciting time for these students as well as the
participating hospitals,” said Daniel M. Lichtstein, M.D.,
professor of medicine and senior associate regional dean for
medical education at UM’s Miller School of Medicine at
FAU’s Medical Regional Campus. “Students will work side
by side with physicians in the diagnosis and treatment of patients,
relating the knowledge they have gained from their first two years
of study and applying it to real-life situations. They will
assist in the delivery of babies; participate in surgical
procedures and be part of clinical teams in pediatrics, internal
medicine and the other specialties traditionally taught in the
third year of medical school.”

Participating
hospitals and specialties include Bethesda Memorial Hospital in
Boynton Beach, which will provide students with obstetrics and
gynecology, pediatrics, and family medicine rotations; and John F.
Kennedy Medical Center in Atlantis where rotations in internal
medicine, surgery, anesthesiology, radiology, geriatrics and
palliative care will take place. Students will also complete
a rotation in psychiatry at the South County Mental Health Center
in Delray Beach. The rotations involve students working under the
direct supervision of community-based physicians in each
specialty.

“While UM’s Miller School of Medicine at FAU’s
Medical Regional Campus’ faculty provide the curricular
oversight, we could not have achieved this historical milestone in
the transition of our two year regional campus to a four-year
campus without the commitment of leadership at our hospital
affiliates and our dedicated community faculty,” said Steven
Falcone, M.D., M.B.A., executive clinical dean at UM’s Miller
School of Medicine at FAU’s Medical Regional Campus.

The
curriculum at FAU’s regional campus differs from that of the
Miami medical campus in that students are exposed early on and
extensively to clinical activity in several different
settings. There are also
fewer didactic hours
and a greater emphasis on independent, self-directed
learning. Small group, problem-based learning sessions serve
to emphasize the relevance of basic science knowledge to clinical
medicine. Additionally, each student, by working closely with a
community-based preceptor and faculty preceptor, follows a panel of
patients with chronic illness throughout all four years of
study. This helps provide students with the skills and
knowledge necessary to render comprehensive, compassionate care to
their future patients.

“We
look forward to a continued collaboration between the regional
campus and the area hospitals. As our four year medical education
program evolves, we will continue to work diligently to develop
clinical rotations that match the high quality of education the
medical students receive here at the regional campus,” said
Michael Friedland, M.D., dean of FAU’s Charles E. Schmidt
College of Biomedical Science, FAU’s vice president for
medical programs and regional dean of the University of Miami
Miller School of Medicine at FAU.

For
more information, contact Giselle Reid at 561-297-1139 or
greid10@fau.edu.

-FAU-

ABOUT FLORIDA ATLANTIC
UNIVERSITY:

FloridaAtlantic University opened its
doors in 1964 as the fifth public university in Florida. Today,
the University serves more than28,000 undergraduate and graduate
students on seven campuses. Building on its rich tradition as a
teaching university, with a world-class faculty, FAU hosts 10
colleges: College of Architecture, Urban & Public
Affairs, Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts & Letters, the
Charles E. Schmidt College of Biomedical Science, the College of
Business, the College of Education, the College of
Engineering & Computer Science, the Harriet L. Wilkes Honors
College, the Graduate College, the Christine E. Lynn
College of Nursing and theCharles E. Schmidt College of Science.

ABOUT THE UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI
LEONARD M. MILLER SCHOOL OF MEDICINE:

The University of Miami Leonard
M. Miller School of Medicine, founded in 1952, was the first
medical school in the state of Florida. The Miller School
of Medicine is located on the 100-acre University of
Miami/Jackson Memorial Medical Center complex in Miami.
The medical center includes three University-owned hospitals
that make up the University of Miami Health System
(UHealth): University of Miami Hospital, Sylvester
Comprehensive Cancer Center and Bascom Palmer Eye
Institute. Our three primary affiliated hospitals on the
campus include Jackson Memorial Hospital, Holtz
Children’s Hospital and the Miami VA Medical
Center. Miller School faculty members conduct more than
1,700 research projects in basic science and clinical care in
facilities totaling more than 500,000 square feet of research
space.

ABOUT BETHESDA MEMORIAL
HOSPITAL:

Celebrating 50 years of caring
for the community, Bethesda Memorial Hospital, is a 401-bed,
full service, not-for-profit hospital that serves South Palm
Beach County. Accredited by The Joint Commission, Bethesda
Memorial Hospital and its affiliates specialize in cancer care,
endovascular and orthopedic surgery, maternity, pediatrics and
rehabilitation. In 2008, Bethesda opened the Bethesda Heart
Institute on the Hospital’s main campus. This
“heart hospital within a hospital” provides
comprehensive cardiovascular services including: diagnostic,
interventional, surgical services and cardiac
rehabilitation.